Land of Violets and Thrones
by homestuckisme
Summary: "Are you certain you want to remain in a field filled with only the flowers and the fallen?"


Author's Note: I'm really looking forward to feedback on this one. ;)

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Land of Violets and Thrones

"_Are you certain you want to remain in a field filled with only the flowers and the fallen?"_

* * *

Hotaru blinked. The sky here was a strange lilac color, lighter at the places touched by the bright white rays of a foreign sun. The open expanse resembled an animated painting, having wisps of silvery gray clouds floating sluggishly across an otherwise still atmosphere.

She sat up slowly, wincing as her injuries ached and stung. Without her brother's powers to shield her from nature's punishment, time-space retribution was quickly battering Hotaru's body. There were probably only a few minutes left before her existence would be completely erased from time.

_This is really the end._

Her solemn indigo eyes surveyed the area. Tens of thousands of violets thrived in the fields she sat in, cluttering the slopes and curves of great hills as far as the eye could see. The flowers grew so densely not even the green of their leaves could be seen. The few patches of land exempt from the domineering reign of the violets were fallow-an ugly gray shadowed by perturbing, oddly-shaped chairs tainted with rust.

_This is a very strange place to die,_ Hotaru mused, idly fingering a violet with one white finger. Except for the repetitive brush of a petal, she remained quite still and silent until an eyebrow twitched almost undetectably. _I forgot to thank Noda-sensei for bringing me here. _

Nodacchi's time-space alice had led them to an entirely different universe. He had warned her it had only been an infinitely small stroke of luck that had brought them into this strange land.

"_Are you sure this is what you want, Hotaru-chan?" His small eyes narrowed even further in worry. "If I go back to the academy now, I won't be able to return for you if you have second thoughts."_

Hotaru had assured him that it was quite all right.

"_I am fine here," she said, her tone of voice strong with a conviction devoid of hesitation. "I don't want anyone to witness my last moments."_

And she really didn't. Such a scenario would be almost masochistic. Having someone by her side as death approached, only to know they would forget her existence the moment she disappeared and then continue on with life never remembering her sight and sound...Even her mark in texts and pictures, her beloved photographs, would be never more.

She gave an involuntary shudder. _No indeed. I'd rather keep my last thoughts to myself. _

So what to think?

She lay back on the ground, head thankfully cushioned by a soft bed of violets, and stared blankly at nothing in particular. Eventually, her mouth opened to release a question she could not help but asking. "Was I wrong to want the best for my friend?" she whispered faintly.

Mikan was all right now. Her memories of the academy had been erased, and she was back to living with her Jii-san in the countryside. Even if enemies found Mikan and tried to hurt her, Hotaru had been promised an elite team of inner academy operatives would protect her at all costs. Besides, Hotaru had even sacrificed her own existence in order to bring back the most reliable form of protection available.

Natsume would be there for Mikan, first lurking under the cover of darkness he was most accustomed to working in. Hotaru knew he would not be able to keep away for long, though, and sooner or later he would reemerge in Mikan's life and keep a closer watch right by her side. Maybe Mikan would remember Alice Academy then. And even if she didn't, at least she'd be able to fall in love again with the man who loved her most (Hotaru believed this statement to be an inevitable fact).

_So no,_ she decided. _It was not wrong to want her happiness. It was wrong of me to twist the laws of nature and abuse my innate power to make the impossible happen. _

_Whatever. _Hotaru blew a strand of hair with a great big puff. _It really isn't like me to regret my choices. _

By now, a creeping heaviness had enveloped her body. She could no longer move her arms at her sides, and it hurt even to blink. Her consciousness hurriedly flitted across the organized expanse of her mind, trying desperately to keep a hold of one last image before she went.

Surprisingly, Hotaru suddenly recollected her earliest memory. She had been about three when she had caught a severe case of pneumonia and ended up with a fever deadly enough to kill. The antibiotics had little effect and the doctors had grimly told her parents there was not much hope for her survival. However, she had miraculously broken through, and thanks to her mind eye she could still see her mother and father bending over her, tears of happiness and relief streaming across their faces. Her mother had clutched her close, crying softly, "I thought we lost you! I'm so glad. I love you, I love you, I love-"

A single tear leaked from one eye and cascaded down Hotaru's cheek as she bitterly realized, with sudden clarity, that despite all her bravery she wanted to live.

Light abruptly emanated from Hotaru's body and hoisted her up into the air. She struggled to gain composure while floundering about, trying to get her feet back on the ground. "What is this?" she snarled in irritation.

"Life. Isn't it what you desire?"

She looked up. Someone was gently descending from the air. "Are you holding me captive?" she nearly cried in exasperation. Hotaru's nerves were severely shaken and she could, embarrassingly, no longer retain her usual calm.

"Hardly. We're helping you."

The intruder, now face to face with Hotaru's sharp eyes, was probably an older girl, judging by her maturity of voice, although one would not first assume so when noticing her small stature. She was petite and nearly doll-like, having heavy-set eyelashes framing bright purple eyes and perfect M-shaped lips outlined in black lipstick. Short-white blonde hair cut to the nape of her neck was held back by a blue headband, and she wore an almost costume-like garb constituted by various shades of orange and an intricate sun symbol across her chest. The uncanny similarity between the two girls was, to say at the least, shocking.

"So let me get this straight," Hotaru spat scathingly. "You expect me to believe you're not hostile while I'm held up in the air against my will, and that this bizarre light is the physical, visible essence of something unable to be fully grasped by man? Are you mocking me?"

"Of course not!" The girl spoke through a dainty hand trying in vain to cover her quaking mouth; her amusement was obvious. "I've been entirely truthful to you in the thirty seconds we've conversed, and please believe me when I tell you this is no small feat indeed. Although, now that you've mentioned it, I'm not quite sure why Feferi's powers take the form of light, or how it can even grasp a hold of your body. We should investigate this further. Perhaps together?"

Hotaru gritted her teeth at the absurdity of her situation and replied as unflustered as she could, "I'm sorry I have to shoot down your offer. I'm afraid I don't associate with strangers on the best of days, and I already have a time limit on this one. So could you be so kind to place me back on the ground?"

"If the time limit you're talking about is of your impending death, it's not going to come any time soon."

Hotaru froze. _How does she-_

"Know?" The girl smiled brilliantly. "I'm a Seer, Hotaru Imai. I know who you are and what you have done."

"Then you must know I've messed with the laws of nature." Hotaru swallowed deeply. "You know I'm going to die for tangling with time and space and that there is nothing else I can do."

The girl crossed her arms in a thoughtful position. "Well, yes, I must agree you've messed with the timelines quite haphazardly. Dave practically cringed every time you crashed through his domain. But seeing as you've traveled so far into an alternate universe, don't you think it's rather silly to limit yourself with the belief that there is nothing there to save you?"

"The laws here are different. We can help, and we already have."

Hotaru kept quiet.

_...The concept of extreme healing powers isn't even that far off from my own world. After all, there's Subaru. _

"So that's it then? You've healed me?" Even as she asked, Hotaru could already feel the energy resurging in her body.

"Yes."

"But...why?"

The girl cocked her head. "You started showing up in my visions, Hotaru Imai, without warning. You honestly caught me and my friends quite by surprise, and a little fear too." She laughed softly. "We thought you might be the form of the next monster we had to defeat. You are far from a monster. We've seen your war and your personal struggle to save those you love. Your last sacrifice was very honorable, very impressive. But we felt it was not needed, and that a great mind and person like you was still needed in this world."

Hotaru scoffed. "Then you saved me out of pure luck and idealism. I just happened to come across your visions, and you just wanted to save everyone you possibly could. That's incredibly stupid."

"Is it, though? Is it stupid to want to save someone in obvious need of help? Is it stupid to believe saving someone might be preordained by fate itself?"

"Maybe I didn't want your help. Maybe I wanted to die nobly, no matter how early!"

The girl fixed her with an inscrutable stare. "Did you really?"

Hotaru opened her mouth only to have no sound come out. She growled in frustration, unhappy she had been driven into a corner and that she had not simply admitted her true feelings before.

"...No. I wanted to live."

The stranger smiled once again. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"Yes. Well," Hotaru coughed self-consciously, "thank you."

"You're most certainly welcome." The girl took her hand and held it for a few seconds. It was just as warm and gentle as a mother's touch. "So what will you do now? If you want to return home, I have a friend who can take you back."

"It's not really my home anymore. Without my best friend, it'll never be the same again." Hotaru sighed. "Maybe I'll stay here."

The girl lifted an eyebrow. "Are you certain you want to remain in a field filled with only the flowers and the fallen?"

Hotaru frowned. "The fallen?"

"Surely you've seen the thrones." An orange-sleeved arm gestured to one of the battered chairs behind them. "Curiously, this is the final resting place for the extant belongings of those who fell from grace. Absolutely fascinating relics of history dwell here, like Marie Antoinette's crown and Caesar's blood-stained robes." She smiled wryly. "You. however, do not belong in this sort of place."

"Then where do I go?"

A kind light sparked in the stranger's eyes. "Do you want to come with us? There's no deadline to decide whether you should return or not, and in the meanwhile you'd be sure to experience some good times exploring an entirely different universe."

Hotaru stared down below for a few beats before cracking a small smile of her own. "Yes, I'd like that. A journey with strange folks like yourself is sure to be one of possible enlightenment."

"I'm glad you think of it like that." The two began to rise up and up into the air, past the clouds and strange-colored sky, getting nearer to the sun itself.

"So are you ever going to tell me your name?"

Bright light shone and shimmered on golden white hair. "Rose. Rose Lalonde."


End file.
